Inside Jim Bob Duggar's Tense Relationship With His Sister Deanna

Jim Bob Duggar talks the family values talk, but does he walk the walk? According to his sister, Deanna Duggar, Jim Bob's not big on walking; he's more of an armchair critic. But then, that'll be no surprise to anybody who keeps up with Jim Bob, his wife, Michelle Duggar, and their supersized family.

The Duggars first graced the screen in the Discovery special "14 Children and Pregnant Again!" It didn't instantly propel them to fame, though; it took two more specials for that to happen. In 2008, the Duggar family landed their own show, the docu-series "17 Kids and Counting," which became "19 Kids and Counting" as the clan grew. Jim Bob and Michelle are members of the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist church. Their unwavering faith dictates their unconventional approach to birth control, parenting style, and strict adherence to traditional family values.

The family put so much weight on the latter that their eldest son, Josh Duggar, worked for the Family Research Council. However, in 2015, their commitment was questioned after Josh admitted to sexually abusing five young girls, including his own sisters, per People. To make things worse, it was revealed that Jim Bob and Michelle knew about the molestation but sent Josh off to a camp to pray his sins away instead of officially reporting his actions to authorities. Then, to top it off, Josh landed a prison sentence over child pornography, and now, Jim Bob's sister is adding to his woes by questioning his family values.

If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.

According to Jim Bob Duggar's sister, Deanna Duggar, his adherence to the Conservative Christian family values he espouses is somewhat sketchy. Deanna made scathing allegations against her brother, Michelle Duggar, and their offspring in a slew of social media posts. In January, she posted a cartoon of a man with a snake wrapped around his neck. It was captioned, "The most dangerous animal on the planet is a fake friend." Deanna weighed in with her own five cents, "So true!!" she wrote, adding, "Also fake family!!!"

Deanna continued her attack by posting a pointed meme in May. "You may tell the greatest lies and wear a brilliant disguise, but you can't escape the eyes of the one who sees right through you," it reads. "So very true," she captioned it. And she didn't stop there. Deanna cut off all contact with Jim Bob and his offspring after Josh Duggar was arrested on child porn charges in April 2021, and she's unsure that they'll ever make up again.

In June, Deanna told The U.S. Sun that she has no doubts about her nephew's guilt and insisted that Josh needs to undergo professional therapy. "I think he should get some help to really find out what is going on. Find out what caused all this and get the psychological help he needs," Deanna said. "My father had serious mental issues. It could've been passed down to Josh. I do not know."

Deanna Duggar's allegations against Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar continued in "Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets." She claimed her brother insisted Josh Duggar had done nothing wrong despite the feds raiding his car lot and hauling away computer equipment. Instead, Jim Bob blamed the furor on an "ex-con."

Not surprisingly, the scandal-plagued spouses weren't happy about the documentary. They slammed its claim that they're the "poster children" for an abusive cult. "Like other families, ours too has experienced the joys and heartbreaks of life, just in a very public format," they wrote on their blog. "This 'documentary' paints so much and so many in a derogatory and sensationalized way because, sadly, that's the direction of entertainment these days."

Meanwhile, Josh's child molestation scandal ultimately spelled the end of "19 Kids and Counting." TLC was pressured to cancel the show following a tone-deaf interview Jim Bob and Michelle gave to Fox News. They insisted Josh was a "changed person" after his prayer camp trip and boasted that he'd "paid for his counseling himself." Michelle explained they introduced rules to safeguard their daughters, like not allowing boys and girls to play hide and seek together. They insisted that the media focus should actually be on why the Freedom of Information Act allows for juvenile police records, such as Josh's molestation report, to be released to the public. The couple vowed legal action to keep minor's records permanently sealed so any "mistakes juveniles make" remain private.